Hello Belgium, here I am !!!
As in my previous series, a random number generator will determine in which order I will look at the roughly 210+ shares.
One initial remark on the “Expert Market” Segment: This is a very illiquid segment of stocks that are traded only once a week (Tuesdays) in an Auction. Some stocks haven’t traded for years. Sometimes very little or no information is available for these companies. In this series, I will only take a closer look at those Expert market stocks that have been trading at least once in 2023. The others I will only mention briefly. As the Expert market is almost 50% of the universe, there will be a lot of very short reviews.
Let’s go !!!
- TPF Contracting (Expert Market)
TPF Contracting SA provides design, management and supervision, and asset management services for public and private clients in Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa. It offers its services for transport and mobility, buildings and cities, and environment and water sectors.
The last trade of this Expert Market listed stock was in 2018, so let’s “pass”..
- UCB SA
UCB is a 16 bn EUR market cap biopharmaceutical company that “develops products and solutions for people with neurology and immunology diseases.”
A first look at the TIKR overview page shows that the company is not too expensive at a P/E of ~20, but the share price has been doing nothing for 10 years or more.
The largest shareholder with 36% is the founding Jansen family via a listed vehicle called Financiere de Tubize.
Looking quickly at the financials, UCB currently earns around 30-40% of its peak earnings from 2018 or 2012. Return on Capital is currently around 4%, down from a peak of 12-14%.
At first sight, I don’t see any interesting angle here for me, therefore I’ll “pass”.
- Charbonnages de Maurage SA en liquidation (Expert Market)
Unfortunately I could not find out much about this company. Also, It seems to be in liquidation and the last trade has been in 2018. “Pass”.
- NMC SA (Expert Market)
NMC is a “a leading and growth-oriented international company specialized in synthetic foams.” according to its website. However, he last trade has been in 2015. “Pass”.
- Tinc NV
TINC is a 420 mn EUR market cap “investment firm specializing in investments in public and private infrastructure, real assets, and energy sector. TINC Comm. VA is based in Antwerpen, Belgium”.
Looking into the investor relation page we can say that Tinc stands for “The Infrastructure investment company”.
The track record looks OK since 2019:
That’s maybe the reason why the share only trades with a discount of -10% to its NAV. The company invests into Public, Digital and Energy Infrastructure and into “selective” Real Estate in Belgium, France, UK and Ireland. The company itself doesn’t use leverage which is interesting and puts them into the lower risk “Core Infrastructure” categorie. Overall, I like to “watch” this one.
- Fluxy’s Belgium
Fluxy’s Belgium is a 1,6 bn market cap Natural Gas midstream player that operates gas pipelines and LNG terminals.
High interest rates and uncertainty on the future of natural gas has clearly left its mark on the shareprice.
With an EV/EBIDTA of 11x, the stock is still not cheap. The Belgium Government holds a “Golden Share” with which they ultimately call the shots, which is an additional reason to “pass”.
- Retail Estates NV
Retail Estates is a 900 mn public REIT that is “a niche player specialised in making out-of-town retail properties located on the periphery of residential areas or along main access roads to urban centres available to use”.
Looking at the TIKR overview page, the stock looks cheap:
A P/E of 10 and a dividend yield of almost 8% look juicy. The shares currently trade at 80% of NAV, but there is leverage. Overall, as I am not a real estate guy, I’ll “pass”.
- Immobiliere Distri-Land NV
This 13 mn EUR market cap company “engages in the issuance of real estate certificates. The company is based in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Belgium. Immobiliere Distri-Land NV operates as a subsidiary of KBC Bank NV. “
I have no idea what that means. “Pass”.
- Financiere de Tubize
By coincidence, the random generator chose UCB’s Holdco (Nr. 2) within the same post. According to the last Report, Tubize owns 36,04% and has been buying more. They have financial debt of around 50 mn EUR but nothing else besides a few technical accounts.
Costs are quite low with 1 mn p.a. and the dividend income is tax exempt. With a market cap of 3,4 bn, Tubize trades significantly below its “intrinsic” value which in theory should be 5,4 bn. So if someone likes UCB, Tubize would be the instrument of choice. Nevertheless, as I do not understand UCB, I’ll “pass” on Tubize.
- Ontex Group
Ontex is a 610 mn EUR market cap that clearly has seen better days. Ontex produces “personal hygiene products and solutions for baby, feminine, and adult care in Belgium, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, France, and internationally.”
Ontex has been loss making in 2021 and 2022. 2023 looks better but debt is still high at 3,6x EV/EBITDA.
Although turn-arounds are always difficult, I would put Ontex on “watch” especially as they have been completely restructuring their portfolio. However, keeping in mind that a turn-around with that amount of leverage is always risky.
- Wereldhave NV
Wereldhave is a 577 mn EUR market cap operator of shopping malls. The stock chart doesn’t look pretty, Valuation based on P/E and dividend yield looks cheap.
Revenues hae been declining for some years. After 3 years of losses (2019-2021),they have become profitable again, but the debt load is high. “Pass”.
- Cibix (Expert Market)
There is no indication that this stock ever traded. I also didn’t find anything on the web. “Pass”.
- Cie Het Zoute (Expert Market)
This stock actually traded in 2023 and is interesting because the share price is 5300 EUR per share. The company per Tikr is a “real estate development company, constructs apartments in Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. The company also engages in recreational activities comprising golf and tennis, through its sections, Royal Zoute Golf Club and the Royal Zoute Tennis Club. “
The company does actually issue some financial information on its webpage. I calculated The market cap from some numbers myself and came up with around 160 mn EUR. Dividend yield is 1% and Price-to-book is around 1,6.
So unless there is some Greenfee included as shareholder, this doesn’t look too interesting, although the projects they own seem to be on the higher end and mostly at the coast. “Pass”.
- Group Josi (Expert market)
This seems to be an Insurance company founded in 1909 which could be interesting, but as the stock traded last in 2015, I’ll “pass”.
- Volksvermogen
This Expert Market stock had traded in 2023 and according to Tikr “is a principal investment firm. The firm typically invest in the social economy sector and in innovative projects offering sustainable perspectives.”
They do have some financial information on their website, including the major investments. The annual report 2022 is even in Dutch and English.
Most of their investments are done via different (venture) funds across their 3 main target sectors.
If I made no mistake, the company has 30 thousand shares times 880 EUR would give it a market cap of 26 mn EUR. Book equity was around 55 mn EUR as of 12/2022. So theoretically this looks like a significant discount, but one should aware that many venture funds right now might not be worth the “Official” valuation.
It doesn’t look like something that I need to own, so “pass”.
- Home Invest Belgium
Home Invest is a 293 mn EUR market cap company that according to Tikr “operates as a real estate investment company in Belgium. It primarily invests in residential properties. As of December 31, 2008, the company’s real estate portfolio consisted of 992 rental units with a total rentable space of approximately 111,091 square meters.
The company has significant debt and over the last 15-18 month lost a third of the market cap. In 2023, the company runs at a loss due to asset write downs. Not my area of expertise, “pass”.
- Keyware Technologies
Keyware is a 20 mn ER market cap “independent fintech company, provides electronic payment solutions in Belgium”.
The company hasn’t been growing much over the last 7-8 years and in 2023 profits halved. Doesn’t look like very interesting, “pass”.
- Dierk Antwerpen (Expert Market)
“Koninklijke Maatschappij voor Dierkunde van Antwerpen vzw operates Antwerp zoo in Belgium. It also operates Elisabeth Center Antwerp, a concert hall and convention center. The company was founded in 1843 and is based in Antwerp, Belgium.”
The stock traded last in December 2022, but I didn’t find any financial info on the web site. Zoo’s are normally also not a very profitable business. “Pass”.
- Biosenic SA
Biosenic is an 8 mn market cap Biotech penny stock that has little revenues, more losses and significant debt. “Pass”.
20. Sequana Medical
Sequana Medical is a 115 mn EUR market cap, loss making medtech company that has seen better days. Revenues are low and even shrinking, losses are increasing which is compensated by ongoing stock issuance. “Pass”.
